WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, seeking to buffer taxpayers from future housing market downturns, will urge Congress this week to back bipartisan efforts to shutter Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-giants bailed out by the government in 2008.

Obama will also renew his calls for sweeping mortgage refinancing legislation when he travels to Phoenix Tuesday. Arizona's desert capital was the epicenter of the housing crisis that began in 2008, but the market there has rebounded strongly, with home prices up and foreclosures down.